Review #696 of 365
Movie Review of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008) [PG-13] 90 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $12.00
Where Viewed: United Artists Colorado Mills Stadium 16 & Giant Screen, Lakewood, CO
When Seen: 30 September 2008 @ 7:00 pm
DVD Release Date: Unscheduled (please check back)
Soundtrack: Download now from - or - order the CD below
Directed by: Peter Sollett (Raising Victor Vargas )
Screenplay by: Lorene Scafaria (debut) based on the novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Michael Cera (Juno) • Kat Dennings (The House Bunny) • Aaron Yoo (The Wackness) • Rafi Gavron (Breaking and Entering) • Ari Graynor (For Your Consideration) • Alexis Dziena (Fool's Gold) • Jonathan B. Wright (debut) • Zachary Booth ("Damages") • Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder)
So, the film's version of the story, which has already been mentioned gets off on a different foot than the book, has 'emo' not 'mo' Nick (Michael Cera), desperately exasperated by having been dumped by girlfriend Tris (Alexis Dziena) on his "b-day" turning down a gig with his gay-boy bandmates of Thom (Aaron Yoo) and Dev (Rafi Gavron) until they mention the possibility of seeking out his favorite band of all time "Where's Fluffy" afterwards. But, he plans to drive himself in his yellow Yugo that everyone thinks is a cab. Meanwhile, Norah (Kat Dennings) and her best friend Caroline (Ari Graynor) have plans to go out that evening as well while trying to avoid their mutual acquaintance, Tris. Tris tosses Nick's latest 'break-up' mix into the trash, only for it be rescued from the jaws of death by Norah who loves, loves, loves his mixes. The fates would have the all in love with "Where's Fluffy" and all showing up to see Nick's Band play. One thing that Tris was during their relationship was supportive of his music. Norah begs Caroline not to get drunk—mind you, these are all high school not college kids—because she's sick of always haven to pick up after her. When Tris shows up at the performance, what's Norah to do about the fact that she's got no boyfriend? So, she zips over to Nick and asks him to be her boyfriend for five minutes so she'll have someone to show off. She doesn't realize that he's Tris's Nick—which is a little incongruous coming from a girl that's listened to every one of his mix CDs. Anyway, they kiss and then Nick sees Tris with her new college boyfriend. He's still not over her, and maybe she's not over him either. The rest of the film's story takes place that evening as Nick and Norah meander through each other's lives until the fateful moment planned out for them in advance where they would either end up as potential soul mates or mortal enemies. (see spoiler for results on that one)
Thematically, the film has a lot of cool things going for it. There hasn't been a recent, good, mainstream teen-oriented film with acceptable, interesting, teen gay characters. The film has some outrageously funny parts. Nick and Norah, despite their world and their friends, seem well-adjusted teens who are totally into music rather than totally into drinking and drugging, which is refreshing, although the plot device used to cause most of the chaos in their lives that evening hinges on the drunken stupor of Caroline—no she doesn't take Norah's advice. The use of this plot device is one of the weaker elements of the film and forces, perhaps, undesired analysis of certain elements of the plot.
… Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist isn't great. It's quite good, but it suffered from some distracting ancillary story lines, stereotypical characterizations, and a tendency at times to stoop to the lowest common denominator …
When it comes to the acting, the young cast is quite good. Most of the characters aren't that deep, and several fall into definitive stereotypes. Of course Micheal Cera and Kat Dennings steal the show, as well they should. The concern for Michael Cera has to be, however, that he's now successfully played nearly precisely the same character in three straight movies. Is he already typecast? The director paced the film well, but might have worked a bit harder with the editor in making some decisions as to what was truly relevant to the central story.Finally, when it comes to great movies, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist isn't great. It's quite good, but it suffered from some distracting ancillary story lines, stereotypical characterizations, and a tendency at times to stoop to the lowest common denominator in teen-pitched films—someone, anyone, preferably a drunken person, has to end up vomiting all over the place. This vomit theme couldn't be more trite or tired, and yet this film pushes it a few steps further just to make sure no one could ever say they didn't really interact with the vomit. Sure, everyone has vomit, but we interact with it in this film. If there needed to be any more evidence of non sequitur material that distracted from the story this would be it. Oh, and if anyone who sees it can figure out what's the deal with the gum symbolism, please post your ideas and comments on that below, because I've tried and tried to solve it and am at a complete loss.
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Other Projects Featuring Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008)
Cast Members
Michael Cera • Kat Dennings • Aaron Yoo
Rafi Gavron • Ari Graynor • Alexis Dziena
Jonathan B. Wright • Zachary Booth • Jay Baruchel
Director
Peter Sollett
Writer
Lorene Scafaria
1 comment:
there were some awkward moments in this movie that were hard to get past... such as every time that gum was passed around (yuck!)
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